The present invention relates to an intelligent storage medium and an interfacing method thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to a non-contact type of rotating medium, a signal transmission method of the non-contact type of rotating medium, and signal transmission means and an apparatus thereof, for example, an antenna system of a radio communication instrument. Therefore, the present invention is suitable to use in data communication with a general rotating medium in the state of non-contact, and in particular, to use in the non-contact type of data communication between a microprocessor and the like on the rotating medium and the external apparatus in case the microprocessor and the like are mounted on the rotating medium such as an optical disk and the like that are storage media.
Up to now, as information storage media, magnetic disks, magnetic disk cards, and the like as information storage media magnetically recording information, optical disks, optical cards, and the like as information storage media optically recording information, magneto-optical disks, magneto-optical cards, and the like as information storage media that are devised by mixing both technologies are well-kown, and are already in practical use.
The important part of these conventional information storage media is to record information, and hence research and development from the viewpoint of miniaturizition and large capacity have proceeded in this direction. Consequently, capacity of recorded information has increased, year after year, owing to a high-density recording method in the width or pitch direction, a recording method using multiple layers, and the like.
Nevertheless, in regard to physical or logical recording methods and foirmats that are used for writing information on information storage media, therefore kinds of information written beforehand on information storage media, or the like, and therefore methods where each operator judges them by matching an indication on a case of an information storage medium and the like, or each information recording apparatus reads information on an information storage medium and a system judges or recognizes them.
In addition, as information storage apparatus reading and writing information from/to various types of information storage media, various apparatuses have been developed and produced. Nevertheless, since compatibility between manufacturers or upward compatibility between media is not complete, users must bear a heavy load.
Furthermore, hereinafter, when systems having various types of OSs and application programs are down-loaded into standardized system devices, such as when use of network computers (NCs) become widespread, there is a need to simplify OSs and application programs as much as possible.
Contacts are frequently used for signal transmission between the rotating medium and external equipment Although there are technologies recently developed for non-contact types of cards for non-contact signal transmission, they are not multiple channels devices, and hence they are not suitable to super high-speed signal transmission, i.e. 10""s of MBPS. As an example for realizing super high-speed signal transmission, a method using microstrip lines is proposed (Japanese Patent application Laid-open No. 4-304001).
Nevertheless, the communication method using the microstrip lines has large electromagnetic leakage in the surface direction due to the characteristic of the microstrip lines. Therefore, since a transmitted signal is mixed, to a considerable extent, with adjacent lines as interfering waves, this is not efficient and is disadvantageous from the viewpoint of packaging density if many lines are located on the sane surface. Furthermore, it is complicated in construction and expensive to locate lines vertically as described in Japanese Patent application Laid-opened No. 4-304001.
The present invention considers the above viewpoints and provides: a storage medium having intelligence that has, in one-piece, a storage medium, and an electronic circuit suitable to the storage medium, and has communication means, with an external apparatus, to reduce the loads of a main frame of a system in processing of information stored in the information storage medium, said electronic circuit can manage and control the external system equipment; the apparatus exchanging information with the electronic circuit; and a system including them.
In order to solve this task, a storage medium of the present invention is a storage medium that has an electronic circuit mounted on at least a part of the storage medium, wherein the electronic circuit has communication means for communicating with the outside and the communication means has an interface including a contact type or a non-contact type interface.
Here, the non-contact type interface is communicating with an external interface via sound, light, radio waves, or induction. In addition, the interface via radio waves or induction is provided on a margin of the storage medium in correspondence to a communication frequency. Furthermore, the interface via light is provided on a margin of the storage medium in corresponding to an optical communication frequency or is constructed so that the path of the light from the outside may be changed by the optical path-change members and driving the members according to output information. Moreover, the optical path-change members are elements for changing a light path, that is, transmitting or shielding light. In addition, optical path-change members are elements for changing the light path by using the reflection angle. Furthermore, the contact type interface is connected to an external interface electrically and/or mechanically. Moreover, the electrical and/or mechanical contact is provided on a margin of the storage medium with at least supply means of a reference clock and electric power. In addition, the interface is an interface that is standardized beforehand physically and/or logically. Furthermore, the storage medium includes a magnetic disk, a magnetic card, an optical disk such as a CD and a DVD, a recordable/reproducible optical disk including a magneto-optical disk such as an MO, an optical card, or an magneto-optical card.
Moreover, an apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus performing information transfer with an electronic circuit of a storage medium that has the electronic circuit mounted on at least a part of the storage medium, wherein the electronic circuit has communication means for communicating with the outside and said apparatus has an interface, including a contact type or a non-contact type interface, with the communication means.
The non-contact type interface is communicating with an external interface via sound, light, radio waves, or induction. In addition, the interface via radio waves or induction is provided on a margin of the storage medium in correspondence to a communication frequency. Furthermore, the interface via light is provided on a margin of the storage medium in corresponding to an optical communication frequency or is constructed so that a path of light from the outside may be changed by locating the optical path-change members and driving the members according to output information. Moreover, the optical path-change members change the light path, that is, by transmitting or shielding light. In addition, optical path-change members change the light path by using the reflection angle. Furthermore, the contact type interface is connected to an external interface electrically and/or mechanically. Moreover, the electrical and/or mechanical contact is provided on a margin of the storage medium with at least supply means of a reference frequency clock and electric power. In addition, the interface is an interface that is standardized beforehand, physically and/or logically. Furthermore, the storage medium includes a magnetic disk, a magnetic card, an optical disk such as a CD and a DVD, a recordable/reproducible optical disk including a magneto-optical disk such as an MO, an optical card, or a magneto-optical card.
In addition, a system of the present invention is a system composed of a storage medium, which has an electronic circuit mounted on at least a part of the storage medium, and an apparatus performing information transfer with the electronic circuit, wherein the electronic circuit has communication means for communicating with the outside and the communication means and apparatus have an interface, including a contact type or a non-contact type interface.
Here, the non-contact type interface communicates with an external interface via sound, light, radio waves, or induction. In addition, the interface via radio waves or induction is provided on a margin of the storage medium in correspondence to a communication frequency. Furthermore, the interface via light is provided on a margin of the storage medium in corresponding to an optical communication frequency or is constructed so that the path of light from the outside may be changed by locating optical path-change members and driving the members according to output information. Moreover, the optical path-change change the light path, that is, transmitting or shielding light. In addition, optical path-change members change the light path by using a reflection angle. Furthermore, the contact type of contact is connected to an external interface electrically and/or mechanically. Moreover, the electrical and/or mechanical contact is provided on a margin of the storage medium with at least supply means of a reference frequency clock and electric power. In addition, the interface is an interface that is standardized beforehand, physically and/or logically. Furthermore, the storage medium includes a magnetic disk, a magnetic card, an optical disk such as a CD and a DVD, a recordable/reproducible optical disk including a magneto-optical disk such as an MO, an optical card, or an magneto-optical card.
The present invention can provide: a storage medium having intelligence that has in one-piece a storage medium, and an electronic circuit suitable to the storage medium, and has communication means with an external apparatus to reduce loads of a main-frame of a system in processing of information stored in the information storage medium, and that can manage and control external system equipment; an apparatus exchanging information with the electronic circuit; and a system including them.
In addition, the present invention provides: a non-contact type of rotating medium where transmission signals mixing of adjacent lines resulting in interfering waves are reduced, many lines can be efficiently located on the same surface, and hence packaging density can be increased at low cost; a signal transmission method thereof; and signal transmission means and an apparatus thereof.
In order to solve this task, a radio signal transmission apparatus comprises a first plurality of balanced microstrip lines formed in concentric circles centering on a rotating shaft in predetermined intervals on the same surface of a flat rotating medium, a second plurality of balanced microstrip lines that face the first plurality of balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium at a predetermined gap, in a plane facing and fixed at the same intervals and radii as those of the first plurality of balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium. Furthermore, the radio signal transmission apparatus is characterized in that the apparatus performs a plurality of signal transmission corresponding to the number of magnetic couplings by using magnetic coupling between the first balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium and the fixed second balanced microstrip lines corresponding to each other in a one-to-one manner.
In addition, a radio signal transmission apparatus is characterized in that balanced microstrip lines are used as an antenna of a radio block so as to avoid interference with adjacent lines and to increase density of signal transmission channels of signal transmission lines on the same surface.
Here, a transmitter and/or a receiver, and termination resistors are connected at both ends of each of the balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium and the fixed balanced microstrip lines. The connection ends of the transmitter and/or receiver, and termination resistors are selected so that inductive directions on the both balanced microstrip lines coincide. Furthermore, fixed or variable phasers adjusting electrical line length are further provided at the midpoints of the balanced microstrip lines.
Moreover, a radio signal transmission method of the present invention uses a flat rotating medium on which a plurality of balanced microstrip lines are formed in concentric circles centering on rotating shaft at predetermined intervals on the same surface, and an external apparatus having a plurality of balanced microstrip lines that face the plurality of balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium at a predetermined gap in the plane facing and fixed in the same intervals and radii as those of the plurality of balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium. Furthermore, the method is characterized in that a plurality of signal transmission corresponding to the number of magnetic couplings by using magnetic coupling between the balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium and the fixed balanced microstrip lines that corresponds to each other in a one-to-one manner.
Here, a transmitter and/or a receiver, and termination resistors are connected at both ends of each of the balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium and the fixed balanced microstrip lines so that inductive directions on balanced microstrip lines may coincide. Furthermore, fixed or variable phasers adjusting electrical line lengths are provided at the midpoints of the balanced microstrip lines.
In addition, a non-contact type of rotating medium has communication means, wherein a plurality of balanced microstrip lines are formed in concentric circles centering on a rotating shaft in predetermined intervals on the same surface of the flat rotating medium as a part of an antenna.
Here, a transmitter and/or a receiver, and a termination resistor are connected at both ends of the balanced microstrip lines. Furthermore, fixed or variable phasers adjusting electrical line lengths are provided at the midpoints of the balanced microstrip lines. Moreover, the non-contact type of rotating medium is a storage medium having an electronic circuit.
In addition, an information processing apparatus can communicate with a non-contact type of rotating medium having communication means. The apparatus is characterized in that, if the non-contact type of rotating medium has a plurality of balanced microstrip lines formed in concentric circles centering on a rotating shaft in predetermined intervals on the same surface, the apparatus has a plurality of balanced microstrip lines that face the plurality of balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium in a predetermined gap in plane facing and are fixed in the same intervals and radii as those of the plurality of balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium. Furthermore, the apparatus is characterized in that the apparatus performs a plurality of signal transmission corresponding to the number of magnetic couplings by using magnetic coupling between the balanced microstrip lines on the rotating medium and the fixed balanced microstrip lines that corresponds to each other in a one-to-one manner.
Here, a transmitter and/or a receiver, and termination resistors are connected at both ends of the fixed balanced microstrip lines so that inductive directions on balanced microstrip lines may coincide. Furthermore, fixed or variable phasers adjusting electrical line lengths are provided at the midpoints of the balanced microstrip lines.
The present invention can form many lines on the same surface in comparison to microstrip lines since leakage of an electromagnetic field in the surface direction is small by constructing antenna lines with balanced microstrip lines, and hence more channels of signal transmission becomes possible and its construction is simple. Hence, the present invention can provide a non-contact type of rotating medium and a signal transmission method for the non-contact type of rotating medium, and signal transmission means and an apparatus thereof.